Konya Karatay Ceramics Museum 2010 2349.jpg

These pieces are from the Kubad Abad Palace excavations, wall tiles in under glaze technique. The palace is located on the southwest shore of Lake Beyşehir, and three kilometers to the north of Gölyaka. It was built by Sultan Alaeddin Kaykubad I (1226-1236). It’s a Seljuk complex of permanent residence rather than a palace. The building, which is one of the oldest examples of Turkish palace complexes, consists of Great Palace on the north, Small Palace on the south and a shipyard at water level and complexes of various sizes flanking them. Among them traces of inner courtyards walls, walking platforms and water installations as well as support and court facilities can be detected.

These tiles were produced with the so-called ‘Minai technique’, involving the use of colors that have to be fired at different temperatures. First blue, green and turquoise were applied on an underglaze and fired. Other colors such as yellow, red, white, black and sometimes gilt were then applied on top of this, and re-fired at a lower temperature.